Manager, Organic and AI Strategy and Performance

About the RoleAs Manager, Organic & AI Search Strategy & Performance you will lead the team responsible for driving high-impact search growth across Kohls.com. You will bridge operational leadership with cross-functional strategy, combining core content execution, performance leadership, and emerging-discovery innovation to build Kohl’s authority, visibility, and commercial impact at scale across traditional search engines (Google, Bing) and emerging AI answer platforms Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Large Language Models (LLMs), and bots.What You’ll DoServe as the leader for Kohl’s organic search footprint, translating high-level business goals into a multi-year growth strategy while defining and championing the integrated vision for AI Search Visibility, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and traditional organic search performance across the enterpriseProvide leadership and oversight across core operations, intelligence bridge, and innovation pillars, ensuring operational handoffs, testing pipelines, and scaling workflows run seamlessly to build Kohl’s authority, visibility, and commercial impactBuild and retain a highly functioning, collaborative, and future-focused team culture, driving a "Run, Improve, Transform" mindset while fostering continuous learning, psychological safety, and clear growth pathways for team members across all grade levelsEstablish deep strategic partnerships with Digital Engineering/IT, Product Management, Marketing, and Merchandising teams to ensure organic search priorities are integrated into enterprise platforms and site initiativesDrive organizational buy-in for new search paradigms, leading the transition from traditional keyword search to AI-driven answer engines across partner teamsBuild data-backed business cases to secure investment for tools, technical resources, vendor partnerships, and team developmentChampion innovation initiatives (AEO, GEO, agentic workflows, LLM optimization) and ensure discoveries successfully transition into scalable, core content operationsOversee the strategic direction for content optimization across high-volume catalog/Product Matrix Page (PMP) and Product Detail Page (PDP) pages to maximize search visibility, customer engagement, and conversionAct as the primary liaison to Digital leadership, translating complex search trends, algorithm changes, and macro health metrics into clear business-value updatesOversee strategic relationships with external technology partners, enterprise platforms, search engines (Google), and agencies to maximize ROI and beta opportunitiesAdditional tasks may be assignedWhat Skills You HaveRequired7+ years of progressive leadership experience in digital marketing, e-commerce, digital content performance, or search marketing within a large retail or high-volume transactional ecosystemBachelor’s degree in Marketing, Digital Media, Business Administration, or Information SystemsProven track record of managing, developing, and inspiring multi-tiered teams to achieve business results and foster high engagementExceptional ability to collaborate with and influence cross-functional executives, engineering leads, product managers, and marketing teams without direct authorityDemonstrated expertise in building data-driven business cases, managing channel budgets, and translating macro digital performance into business insightsPreferredExperience leading multi-disciplinary digital teams in a major omni-channel retail environmentBroad understanding of digital search dynamics, content optimization engines, and the business impact of emerging AI search platforms (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, AI Overviews)Proven success designing cross-departmental frameworks, SLAs, and governance models for digital executionJob SummaryJob number: R501954Profession: Marketing, eComm & Creative